


Green Lightning

by Luki



Category: Dr. STONE (Manga), Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Flame Harmonization (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23899504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luki/pseuds/Luki
Summary: When Senku breaks out of the stone, he knows two things.One. It’s been 117 billion, 354 million, 893 thousand and 870 seconds since he was petrified.And two, this is not the first life he’s lived.
Relationships: Ishigami Senku & Verde
Comments: 51
Kudos: 534
Collections: Identity Crisis, Reincarnation and Transmigration, Suggested Good Reads





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> On Tumblr once upon a time, a user by the name of picketcricket sent me a message. It read: 
> 
> Consider: Verde reborn as Senkuu
> 
> And in the Covid isolation, my brain decided I needed yet another distraction from my many other works, and I churned out over 3K of yet another KHR crossover (though let's be honest, with how much I've been loving Dr. Stone, that was inevitable). Enjoy!

When Senku breaks out of the stone, he knows two things.

One. It’s been 117 billion, 354 million, 893 thousand and 870 seconds since he was petrified.

And two, this is not the first life he’s lived.

* * *

Verde had many titles throughout his life. The Next Leonardo Da Vinci, Arcobaleno, Mad Scientist, ‘That creepy old dude’ - but he’d never particularly cared for any of them. So long as he had access to a lab and funds to experiment, interacting with people outside of test subjects hadn’t had much value to him. There were exceptions, but Verde did best when left alone. 

It was clearly a smart decision, because if what Ishigami Senku is suddenly remembering about his former life, he might actually have died of old age. Unthinkable for a Lightning given the Mafia’s belief that they made excellent meat shields.

It’s strange though, because the petrification happened in 2019, and Verde definitely remembers being alive that year, so he’s fairly certain he’s been reborn into a different world. Does the soul actually traverse the dimensional barrier after death? 

He would dearly love to study that, but as Senku picks up the shards of petrified rock that had encased his body, he acknowledges that it’s a theory that will have to wait.

* * *

First conclusion – if flames exist here, Senku does not have them. Or at least, does not have access. No matter what he tries, that familiar green glow just will not dance across his fingers, and it’s lack does mean he has no advantages. If he can find some flame-channelling rocks, he can get a conclusive answer, but for now, he’ll have to do everything the civilian way. Considering he’s essentially in a brand new garden of Eden, with literally nothing, the average person’s survival would be almost non-existent.

Senku grins out at the wild forest. For a scientist like him? He can’t think of anything more exhilarating.

* * *

He realises a few months into his survival, when he’s looking up at the stars from his hut, that Byakuya is dead. If he was petrified, he was incinerated when the space station fell out of orbit. If he wasn’t, he’s long since died of old age or from trying to descend with no earth support. Senku doesn’t want to think about it, but Verde can’t seem to let it drop.

It shouldn’t matter. It _doesn’t_ matter. Even without Verde’s memories, Senku has always been a rational mind. Being upset is just pointless.

And yet…

Verde never had anyone. It’s why he ended up falling into the Mafia so easily. Too strange, too weird, too unable to connect to people, to ever survive in the normal world. By the time people found him desirable, he’d had no reason to connect back.

He’d never had a Byakuya. A man that knew his son’s intellect far surpassed his own, but rather than be resentful or jealous, did whatever he could to support him, even at cost to himself. Raised him up rather than force him into the acceptable mould society would prefer. When he was a child, Verde-before-he-was-Verde would pray and wish and dream for that, until he became rational enough to realise there was no point in relying on fantastical daydreams.

Yes, being upset is pointless, but his hand clenches above his heart, gritting his teeth at the phantom pain in every beat all the same. 

Byakuya had not been a Sky, Senku is certain of that, but he keenly wonders if this is what it’s like to lose one.

* * *

Once he has a home, a makeshift shed for testing the petrification, rudimentary weapons, and clothes, Senku starts looking towards boosting the population. He’s a scientist, not an explorer, and doing all the grunt work has damn near killed him. There is something exhilarating about making everything he needs from scratch, something he hadn’t ever thought of as interesting before now given he’d grown up with convenience – but it also means progress is moving at a snails pace. 

He has the brain, but he needs some brawn to even it out.

(Senku also realises that having another human being to talk to is something he needed months ago, considering his subconscious split in two and now has his own personal Mr. Hyde who has _opinions_ on every decision Senku makes. He’s still not entirely sure ‘Verde’ isn’t the result of a mental breakdown. That was a long time to be awake in the stone).

The real question however, is who. Verde didn’t have friends. He had minions, and admittedly did find the Rokudo boy’s little clan quite amusing, but people he willingly hung out with was a very small list.

(The Arcobaleno do not count. They were mutual victims bound by a common incident, nothing more).

Senku on the other hand, found company in the dumb lug he’s now staring down at. Ooki Taiju, an idiot in just about every way, but loyal beyond a fault. With Verde’s memories in his head, he’s reminded of the Vongola’s Sun Guardian, only without the fighting prowess. If flames exist in this world, Taiju would definitely be a Sun himself.

In fact, the Verde in him approves immensely, summing it up the situation in Senku’s head quite brutally. 

‘ _Brawn that will not fight back is_ _the perfect minion for our needs.’_ Especially if that brawn might be capable of healing should they locate the right stones in this world.

However, Senku hesitates. Taiju is his friend, and someone he knows well. But he woke up with another life in his head. If he depetrifies Taiju, there’s no guarantee he’ll be the one who breaks out of the stone.

He shakes his head, and pours the acid. In the end, there’s no real way to know without experimenting, and even if it’s high risk, Senku can’t do this without Taiju. Or whoever Taiju might end up have being before.

It ends up being a mood point, because Taiju doesn’t wake up, and Senku curses up a storm when he realises he’s going to have to drag him into the cave for constant treatment, because Taiju isn’t thinking _enough_.

* * *

When Taiju does wake up, Senku approaches the topic with as much delicacy as he can. Which is to say, none at all.

“Hey, Taiju. When you woke up, did you have any strange memories?”

On the other side of the fire, Taiju pauses in eating his fish.

“Um, I don’t think so?” he says.

“Really?” Senku presses. “Nothing weird? Other memories that don’t belong to Ooki Taiju?”

“Eh? Other memories?” Taiju asks, looking very confused. “You mean, did I remember things I forgot?”

He frowns and crosses his arms, looking up at the roof of their hut. “I don’t know, it’s hard to say. I mean, if I forgot it, would I remember I forgot after I remembered?”

Senku laughs and shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, you big oaf. It doesn’t matter.”

Taiji is still Taiju, and no one else. Perhaps Senku is an aberration? 

‘ _Or maybe_ _our minion_ _is just a very young soul?’_

The next person they revive will hopefully give them more data.

* * *

Senku approves of waking up Yuzuriha. The love of Taiju’s life has always had skills Senku couldn’t match, and she’s a good balance between Senku’s brains and Taiju’s obliviousness. There’s still the risk of another set of memories, but Senku doesn’t worry Taiju with that risk – it’s one worth taking.

Tsukasa however, was not part of the equation. 

Fon would love the duo’s new protector. His body is ridiculous – how does a celebrity fighter in his teens have muscles that defined and well used? His revival was necessary, and some probing confirms he’s lacking additional memories, but Senku is remembering a lot of Mafioso who were too strong to handle without a Sky on hand, and Tsukasa is hitting every red flag. 

His predictions come true quite quickly, when Tsukasa – emboldened by the lack of law and coming to the realisation that no one is currently capable of stopping him – reveals his true opinions on the world. He wants to shatter every adult statue, and create a virtuous world of only the youthful and innocent. Somehow, he’s looking at Senku as if expecting him to be completely on board with that.

Senku only just manages to hold back the laughter, because as stupid as it sounds, Tsukasa is a very real threat. 

Verde was a monster. He is neither embarrassed or prideful about that – it’s a simple fact. He had invented weapons, experimented on human subjects, ignored multiple International laws on a daily basis, and generally been exactly the kind of person Tsukasa would have shattered in a heartbeat. 

Senku lived 16 years before remembering any of that, but he’s still a rational teen. While some of the things he remembers doing make him grit his teeth and clench his fists, he’s also aware that he is not Verde any more. 

But the one thing both people in his head agree on, is that the world Tsukasa wants is a pipe dream, and a broken one at that. Science is progress, and progress needs society – Senku is determined to solve the mystery of the petrification, and that means reviving everyone, and getting the world back to where it was, and then shooting straight past it. Hell, starting from scratch means humanity can skip a whole bunch of stupid mistakes along the way, creating a better world for everyone, and not just those judged ‘worthy.’

Unfortunately, Tsukasa doesn’t agree.

* * *

‘ _We need to kill him,_ ’ Verde whispers in his head, as Senku, Taiju and the newly revived Yuzuriha try to make it to Hakone.

‘ _One way or another, somebody is going to die here,’_ Senku agrees, but starts cracking his neck.

* * *

Here’s the thing. Senku remembers killing people. Verde has a pretty high body count – he was an Arcobaleno, it comes with the territory. But it’s one thing to remember someone else doing it, and another thing entirely to carry it out yourself.

He’s ten billion percent certain he could, if he had too. But he’s going to hesitate – and Tsukasa won’t. The odds are not in his favour. His best option is to run. Senku needs to regroup and build up his forces. But in order to do that, he has to rely on Taiju and Yuzuriha to come through at the pinch.

When he stands in front of Tsukasa, Yuzuriha in his clutches, he pulls out as much Verde as he can, but the act falls apart when Tsukasa severs the girls hair. Verde’s memories are practically screaming to let her die, but Senku is not Verde.

Which means Senku needs to die instead.

* * *

Taiju and Yuzuriha come through, putting together the hints fast enough to revive him, and it’s an act that almost keeps the Verde in his head quiet for a full hour – the idea that one could trust another person so fully is an alien concept to his other self.

But it also means that when Senku asks for his friends to leave and become his sleeping guns in the Tsukasa Kingdom, neither part of his psyche have any doubts.

* * *

Verde knows Lal and Colonello got married as soon as Colonello had grown enough to pass for an adult again - it was one of those handful of events he found himself bodily dragged to on the excuse of ‘Arcobaleno solidarity.’ He also knows the two of them remained vehemently child free. Most of their group had some rather phobic reactions when it came to babies, so it was hardly surprising.

However, if they ever _had_ conceived, Verde thinks Kohaku is a pretty close approximation to what he’d expect their spawn to end up like. A blue eyed blonde who fights like a wildcat and loves what’s hers so fiercely it can only bring her pain. 

But Senku likes her on principal. She’s fairly no nonsense, doesn’t react too badly when Senku shuts any romantic inclinations down flat, and offers Senku the one thing he needs desperately – a route to the other village, and possibly a way in.

Given that the guards immediately attack the second he arrives, Senku’s very grateful for her presence. While he might be planning to win them over with science, that won’t do him any good if they immediately rip off his head.

He risks testing just how far along they are, using the hot spring water and his soap to create bubblesm and the result is...not encouraging.

‘ _We’ve experimented on lab rats with more scientific prowess,_ ’ his subconscious mutters. Senku scoffs and tells that voice to shut up, it’s hardly the villagers fault if they’ve never had an education.

Then Chrome shows up, and both Senku and his sociopathic Jiminy Cricket sit up and take interest. His skill is rudimentary and he doesn’t necessarily understand how his sorcery works, but the sheer fact that he’s the only person in the village asking _why_ when something reacts, makes him stand out significantly.

_'Mine,'_ Senku decides, as he eyes up the hut full of Chrome’s trophies, and his head hums in agreement.

* * *

When Senku gets his first look at Chrome’s collection he nearly drops to his knees and weeps. Rocks and plants, some of them frustratingly rare, all piled up and collected for him to use. It’s clearly taken years to accumulate, and Senku would almost start dancing at the sheer glee he feels when he realises he doesn’t have to collect basic materials any more.

Then, a basket in the corner catches his eye, and Verde steps forward, his memories rushing to the forefront as he walks over and kneels down. 

Inside the basket is seven smaller wicker bowls, each holding rocks of a different colour. They look a little like uncut diamonds of different hues, but Verde’s memories tell him otherwise.

“Where did you find these?” he whispers, and Chrome leans over his back.

“Oh, those really bad coloured rocks?” he asks. “They’re really weird. Most of my collection I find in the same place, but these just pop up randomly. I almost never find more than one in the same place. I call them rainbow rocks, because they only come in those seven colours.”

Senku grins in delight, his hand dipping into the basket and lifting up a small pile of green stones, letting them drip back into the basket one by one. Flame conducting rocks are fairly useless when it comes to the scientific process, and where they come from is still something of a mystery. Nobody has ever found a mine or a way to manufacture them – the working hypothesis was that random rocks would be converted when someone with a strong will and flames was in the area. The quality of the stone converted would affect the flame-channelling quality. But nobody has ever fully confirmed that, and if you couldn’t hunt down one already fixed to a piece of flame-channelling jewellery, finding a raw rock in the wild had the same odds as striking gold.

Chrome however, has managed to gather a _Family’s_ worth of stones. At least two dozen of every colour except orange and indigo, which only have four and six respectively. In Verde’s world, Chrome would have been a millionaire with this basket alone – assuming he wasn’t conscripted into a family for managing to hunt down this much raw material.

“Are they special somehow?” Chrome asks, oblivious to Senku’s thought process. “I’ve tried to experiment with the more plentiful ones, but they’ve never really done anything. They shatter if you’re not careful.”

“They’re very special,” Senku assures him. “Most people would think they’re worthless, but if handled right, these stones can become one of the most powerful tools in the world.”

“Wait, seriously?” Chrome gapes, looking at the set with new eyes. Senku grins and stands up, plucking up one of the green stones as he does. His hands curl around the rock, and he tries to channel his will into it – thinking of his goals. Defeating Tsukasa, solving the petrification mystery, and bringing back the world of yesterday.

To his dismay, the rock stays completely dull, and he lets his hand relax. Senku remains inactive.

“Was something supposed to happen?” Chrome questions, and Senku glances over. He mulls over his options, before grabbing the teen’s hand and setting the stone in his palm.

“Hold tight, and think about what you want most,” Senku says. “Your desire, your will. What is driving you. Take all of that, and force it into this rock. Make it part of you.”

It’s the least scientific explanation he’s ever given, but Chrome runs on a sorcery setting rather than science right now, and given that his eyes focus in understanding suggest it works. His hand clenches tight around the rock, and he glares down at his fist, mumbling something under his breath. Senku doesn’t quite pick it up, but he does hear something along the lines of “heal Ruri.”

A second later, and the rock in Chrome’s hand suddenly starts glowing bright green. The teen yelps, immediately dropping the stone in shock, and Senku bursts into hysterical laughter.

Holy crap. It actually _worked_.

Verde is practically purring in his head. Finally, he has some proof that the other voice in his head isn’t completely insane. That the flames Verde remembers might actually exist here too. If they can get these rocks fixed to the right tools, Senku can introduce flames to this new world. It’s exhilarating to think about.

Granted, it’ll have to go on the back burner for now. The rocks themselves can’t be used without some processing, and since flames often work on their own set of rules, it’s best to wait until Senku has introduced enough science to the village that it won’t be instantly discarded for flames. But just the confirmation that flames exist here is enough to satisfy the other voice in his head.

It takes a bit more convincing to talk Chrome into dropping the subject, but relents when Senku assures him that the rocks won’t help with his goals at the moment, and looks for something else to distract his new student with. It still takes quite a bit of effort to drag himself away and focus on the other, more immediately useful items in the collection though. Galena, coal, corundum...oh, is that cinnabar?

That could be very useful. Let’s see if he can win over that guard with the novel name...

* * *

Kinro turns out to be slightly harder to win over than he’d hoped, but Chrome and Kohaku offer him an excellent route to victory. The Priestess Ruri is sick, with something that needs more than natural herbs to cure. 

Senku is very grateful he went and studied basic pharmaceuticals when he was sick, because Verde had absolutely no interest in the medical field, and making a sulfa drug is the best option they have. 

(Verde’s only contribution is to suggest they use the rocks for channelling sun flames, but neither of them have the slightest clue how healing flames actually work, even if they could find someone active, and got a functional flame tool for them to use).

It’s a long and difficult road map, but it’s not impossible. And at least this time he’s not having to do it alone. He has Kohaku, Chrome, and the young, melon-wearing Suika helping him out, although he does admittedly call Suika ‘Fran’ more than once. Who knew there would be more than one person with a preference for wearing fruit-shaped headwear?

Unfortunately, the four of them are nowhere near enough to make iron, so Senku has to get creative. When he realises he can make flour from the unrefined grains of foxtail millet, a plan comes to head – Ramen.

He does end up mulling it over, as Verde whines that pasta would be equally possible, but while he knows how to make the sauce, Senku has no clue where he’d find the ingredients. Ramen is a lot more doable in Japan – and once Senku actually tastes the end result, the Verde voice is suddenly much happier about the choice.

He really was an asshole in his former life, wasn’t he? He can’t even let _himself_ be happy.

* * *

They decide to hold off on releasing the ramen until the morning, so they can get a full days work out of the people who eat it, and Senku finds himself lying on the roof of Chrome’s hut, looking up at the sky and wondering about their next steps. Almost inevitably, his mind wanders back to a basket in Chrome's hut.

He can’t help himself. Now that he knows flames might be possible here, his brain is already trying to theorise who might have what. 

Taiju, he’s already decided, would be a Sun, and he believes Suika qualifies too. Kohaku might also have sunny qualities, but he suspected the lioness is in fact a Storm. Yuzuriha is a little more complicated, but Rain sounds accurate. He’s pretty sure Kinro and Ginro might also qualify, and Chrome has already been confirmed as a Lightning. While he hasn’t managed to interact with any of the other villagers, he suspects that’ll sum up everyone else too. Mists and Clouds are fairly rare, and given how small the population is, he doubts there’s any in the village.

...Tsukasa might be a Cloud though. He had thought Storm for a while, but that conviction in his eyes makes him think twice.

The biggest issue for experimenting with flames, is the lack of a Sky. While flames can and do work just fine on their own, when you start getting a lot of actives in one place, they do have a tendency to crank everything to eleven. A Sky can temper them, and keep everything functioning. Even Verde would never play too hard with elements without a Sky on hand – at least, not while he was part of the community he was playing with.

He smirks and sits up, shuffling down towards the door.

So, healing the Priestess, defeating Tsukasa, obtaining the miracle fluid in order to revive more, and then creating rudimentary flame-tech while he gets the Kingdom to shoot through the eras. Sounds like a plan.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the weekend, my brain decided it wanted to finish this, so brute forced it to a conclusion over 3 days. Hope you enjoy!

It might be gauche to stereotype considering how much he hated the Lightning brand, but really, he’s ten billion percent never met a civilian that so utterly encompasses everything Mist’s are supposed to stand for when Asagiri Gen walks into his life. There is no doubt in Senku’s head which stone would react with this trashy mentalist - even the  _ name _ is fitting.

He’s a smart, confident, experienced,  _ threat _ . Working him to exhaustion in order to question him is more to tire him out than prove anything – Gen has come on Tsukasa’s orders, there’s zero percent doubt.

Astonishingly, for the first time since coming across a human threat, even Verde agrees killing him is pointless. They need him to switch allegiance, if Senku is going to have a chance.

Thankfully, if Ishigami doesn’t have a Sky, neither does Tsukasa – and that means winning over a Mist only looking out for himself is not impossible. The way his eyes light up when Senku offers a glimpse of the world lost is enough of a hook. He just needs to figure out the right bait.

It’s quite ironic that the one villager that had threatened them earlier ends up being their salvation – beating Gen to near death, but also making him vulnerable.

‘ _ Helpless little mist, he’ll come to us _ ,’ Verde whispers. ‘ _ He’s defenceless, he’ll want assurance.’ _

‘ _ Go die in a fire,’  _ Senku hisses at his subconscious. But that night, Gen asks Senku a question, and Senku offers the alliance they need.

* * *

‘ _ This is the dumbest idea you’ve ever had. _ ’

It’s the thought running through his mind, when he confronts Chrome and tells him he’s going to fill his head with science before he goes off on his sulphuric acid run. Logically, he’s not the right choice – there’s no way he can shove over a decade of education into Chrome’s brain in a matter of hours – but it’s the choice he can live with. Risking the lives of any of the villagers for his advancement isn’t something he can do and still sleep at night.

Of course, distracted by his own ethical battle, he’d forgotten that Chrome is exactly the same way. Point blank refuses to listen, and makes it clear he’ll be going to watch Senku’s back whether Senku likes it or not – the true logical choice.

‘ _ Congratulations. You’re officially the second smartest person in this village,’ _ the Verde in his brain mocks as they walk away. Senku huffs, and lets himself smile.

Both sides of him had forgotten how comforting it could be to have someone watching your back.

* * *

Senku will admit, when he hears that the village shares his surname, he blue-screens a bit. His brain basically short circuits – he can’t even hear the acid tone of Verde in the background. The revelation might have actually knocked his  _ subconscious _ unconscious, but as insane as the odds may be, it answers more than it doesn’t.

He visits the grave, and is overwhelmingly grateful that he got an answer for what happened to Byakuya. While Senku will never see him again, and ‘Verde’ will never see him in person, the knowledge that he died amongst family, confident that Senku would break free and save everyone, soothes a part of his soul he hadn’t realised was cracked.

But they can only mourn for a few minutes. Now that they have the village under their thumb, it’s time to put the Ishigami residents to the grindstone for the upcoming war.

* * *

Reborn, Senku thinks, would have liked Gen. The idea of using vocal imitation to trick Tsukasa’s Kingdom into giving up would have been right up his alley. The Hitman did generally prefer the direct approach, but this scheme has that touch of insanity and just-crazy-enough-to-work that the chaos loving Sun would adore.

Now that he thinks about it, Skull would probably think the whole thing’s hysterical too – he was a showman right up until the end.

That idea does stay with Senku quite a bit. Are the others reborn to this world? Why did he alone remember his former life? Was it being conscious in the stone? Taiju was too, and doesn’t remember any former life. Maybe he didn’t have one, but it’s difficult to make a conclusion on a two person pool. Gen has not mentioned anyone in the kingdom acting particularly ‘chaotic’ in the Kingdom of Might, which suggests none of the other Arcobaleno or indeed anyone used to flames is up and about. Or if they are, they’re being very quiet about it.

He suspects that will change, once Senku takes over the Kingdom of Might and finally has the time to experiment with the flame channelling rocks Chrome has collected. Flames and chaos do have a tendency to mix.

Verde openly cackles in his head at the thought. Flames had been insanity in the modern world – what the primitive Ishigami citizens and modern timers trapped without technology could do with motivation and no ingrained rules and tradition has both of them cackling. It’ll be a brand new technological revolution – they just need to make sure all the other revolutions have hit first, before they bring it to the forefront.

Still, he likes to look over his new people, and listen to Gen’s explanations of the main foes, and contemplate. Will they have flames? And if they did, what flames would they possess.

When it comes to Ishigami Village, he’s got a good idea for most people. The only one he’s not certain about was Kaseki – it’s a lot easier to predict the flames for teenagers, with their emotions raw and on the surface. The elderly are much harder to guess...but gun to his head, he’d put his money on Cloud or Rain. The man keeps to himself, is devoted to his craft, and doesn’t tolerate people looking down on it.

He looks forward to finding out, once the dust settles.

* * *

They win. But not without cost.

Thankfully, no deaths. But it takes everything Verde and Senku know to keep Tsukasa stable long enough to shove him in that ice box. A good few times, he’d contemplated looking for a Sun to give him a boost or see how creative his aptly named Mist can get with a crash course in mist-construction, before dismissing it as a bad idea.

Regardless, they do stabilise him, have Hyoga and Homura locked away, and the Kingdom of Might cautiously but mostly willingly joining forces with the Kingdom of Science. Having Tsukasa’s blessing, and both Gen and Ukyo supporting him, definitely soothed things over, but it almost feels too easy. Even with Tsukasa choosing to surrender, Senku had been expecting at least  _ one _ member of his Kingdom to protest. He is not the charismatic leader the warrior had been, and the population is not exactly made up of sheep.

As it happens, the backlash does eventually come, but from someone he had never suspected.

One night, he’s sleeping inside a private room within the odd structure the Kingdom of Might has turned into their main home, with Kinro standing guard at his own request, when Verde practically screams in his skull.

‘ _ Threat! Getupgetupgetup! _ ’

Senku’s eyes snap open, sleep vanishing at the sheer fear suddenly rushing through his body. He tries to roll to the side and jump up, but there’s a heavy force on his check, and he stills when he feels something sharp against his jugular.

“ Ah, ah, stay down for now, okay?”

He complies, and while Verde spits out vitriol, Senku tries to figure out the presence.

“ Kinro?”

“ He’s fine,” his attacker says. “He just fell asleep for a bit, I felt this conversation was for our ears only.”

There’s a shift, and Senku’s eyes widen as his attacker comes into view, smiling as if they’d met in the street.

“ Ukyo?” he says, utterly confused.

‘ _ I knew that whole pacifist thing was an act! _ ’ Verde spits out. ‘ _ Nobody is that good with a weapon unless they know how to kill!’ _

Part of Senku agrees...but another part of him remembers how earnest Ukyo had sounded…he refuses to believe it was entirely an act.

“ This seems like quite the change of mind,” he says, keeping his voice level. He can tell from the sharpness that Ukyo’s stolen one of Ishigami’s iron knives, and decidedly dislikes the feeling of it against his throat. “Thought you were against meaningless deaths?”

Ukyo smiles.

“ Didn’t you think that was odd?” he asks, and despite himself, Senku smirks.

“ Given that you were supposed to be a military man, I did have questions.”

“ I did too, once Tsukasa woke me up,” Ukyo replies. “Then again, knowing what I know now, perhaps it makes more sense than I thought.”

Senku’s eyes widen, and Verde hisses. Ukyo just keeps smiling.

“ In one life, I never had a choice but to take lives,” he tells him. “I knew one day I’d die in a gutter, to someone who finally surpassed me. Then I met a fluffy Dame of a Sky, who saw more than a killer in my eyes. I’d rather spend this life following his ideals.”

Senku stills, blinks twice as he processes those words, and nearly passes out when Verde’s memories hit him like a train.

“ Reborn?” he hisses.

Ukyo smirks, one hand on his hat, and Senku sucks in a breath as he practically sees dark empty eyes and sideburns hidden in the shadows. A moment later, Ukyo is off him, and sitting to the side looking utterly harmless. Senku jerks up into a sitting position, his brain frantically trying to comprehend this.

What? How? Why?

“ Chaos, Verde,” Ukyo greets. “You seem to be thriving.”

‘ _ Oh great… _ ’ Verde mutters in his head.

“ Reborn,” Senku greets, scrambling for senses. “You remembered as well? Was Ukyo awake in the stone.”

“ No,” Ukyo replies. “The memories came when the stone broke. I was out of it for a good day trying to settle two minds with blatantly different opinions. You seem to have avoided that issue.”

“ Not as much as you’d think,” Senku replies.

‘ _ Oi, you’re just insulting yourself, you know. _ ’

“ How did you know?” he asks, genuinely curious. He’d been around Ukyo multiple times and hadn’t had a clue. Ukyo grins.

“ You have the same laugh,” he says. “I’d know that cackle  _ anywhere _ .”

* * *

Outwardly, Senku doesn’t allow Reborn’s revelation to affect him much. Rebo...Ukyo - once he’s slipped out of the room to leave Senku to deal with a very frantic and recently concussed Kinro – seems perfectly happy to pretend absolutely nothing has changed. Inwardly, Verde is happy to do the exact same, and he finds himself moaning about why it had to be Reborn of all the Arcobaleno. The Hitman is nothing but uncontrollable.

But Senku, secretly, is somewhat relieved. Finally, he has proof that ‘Verde’ is not in fact a psychotic break brought on from three and a half millennia of counting. That remembering another life is not only possible, but validated. Once they start reviving more people, it’s ten billion percent likely that the other Arcobaleno will start emerging.

The Verde in him is dismayed that he’ll be forced to endure the company of idiots again. Senku, armed with flame channelling rocks and a laundry list of challenges, finds the idea exhilarating.

* * *

Granted, meeting the others will probably take time. They only have a small amount of revival fluid left.

Then Ryuusui arrives. Chaos and capitalism combined in one larger than life package.

“ Are we  _ absolutely _ certain he’s not Mammon?” Senku asks Ukyo, when Ryuusui reveals his brand new dragos. Ukyo shrugs and waves his hand slightly, in a ‘maybe 50/50?’ gesture.

Within a matter of days, Ryuusui pretty much has the entire Kingdom wrapped around his financial finger. His deal with Senku regarding the oil, and his decision to bring back money, goes down a lot easier than Senku would have expected. Considering how many people in Tsukasa’s group had supported his anti-establishment morals, one would think there would be more pushback. Then again, Ryuusui, arrogant he may be, but his charisma is apparent – he’s used to a world that follows his lead.

Senku nods in satisfaction. Sky acquired.

Finally, he can start his experiments.

* * *

“ Definitely not Mammon,” both Ukyo and Senku conclude, when Ryuusui hands over a literal fortune for Gen’s golden ticket. The Arcobaleno would never fall for a rookie Mist’s antics, and he’d never hand over that much cash without haggling. Senku shrugs it off, but Ukyo looks a little disappointed.

“ The two of us are random enough to chalk up to coincidence,” Ukyo explains over the phone, when Senku has flown to the Village. “If you had managed to revive another Arcobaleno reborn into this world, it would suggest something is drawing us together.”

Senku hums in agreement. “True. Seven billion petrified and yet two of us knew each other in a past life. Obtaining a third this quickly would be ridiculous odds.”

“ Not that ridiculous for people like us,” Ukyo replies, and Senku hums in partial agreement.

“ I wouldn’t have thought you would be missing them any more than I am,” Senku says. “We were hardly friends – barely colleagues at the best of times.”

Granted, he remembers Reborn getting along fairly well with Colonello and Fon, and he’d always had an awkward relationship with both Skull and Yuni – but Reborn spent years working on being charismatic, it’s near impossible to tell when his affection is real. Reborn certainly had never sought them out unless he’d needed something.

“ I don’t,” Ukyo admits, confirming Senku’s opinion. “But if the Arcobaleno have come here, perhaps the other members of the Tri-Ni-Sette have too.”

Senku’s eyes widened. Of course. There’s only one person Reborn would actively seek out in another life.

“ You really believe Sawada Tsunayoshi is here? That he’d remember?”

True, the Arcobaleno hadn’t been cursed for decades before their deaths, but they’d still underwent a significant alteration. All the Vongola and Mare bearers ever had to deal with was wearing rings.

There’s a huff over the line. “The Tri-Ni-Sette supports each other, so unless you can explain why only the two of us are here, why shouldn’t I suspect the rest came along? It’s a valid hypothesis until I get conclusive evidence otherwise.”

And, well...as a guy who once screamed at a statue of his best friend in desperation? 

Senku can’t really judge him for that.

* * *

It takes a few months before he realises, but Verde is getting quieter.

Not that his memories are vanishing, but his subconscious has been leaving biting commentary on his actions less and less. He suspects that it’s a natural progression – his brain adapting and absorbing the additional information until there’s only one entity in his skull.

It’s a sombre feeling. He’s not exactly going to miss his alternate self – but he’s also not happy about the loss.

With Senku, the addition of Verde’s memories hasn’t really affected him much. He has a lot more scientific knowledge than he’d had, which has come in very handy in the last few years – but his core morals and actions remain fundamentally  _ his _ . Verde is very much his past.

Ukyo on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have been so lucky – while Senku had never met him in the modern world, there are a lot of things about his actions that are quintessentially  _ Reborn _ . As if the moment the memories emerged, Reborn had stepped forward and pushed Ukyo’s own memories and actions into the back-seat. Still there, but unable to stop Reborn if he decided to act in a way his more pacifistic incarnation wouldn’t approve of.

Senku’s actually very grateful that his will was either stronger than Verde’s, or that the two of them had enough in common to keep them from fighting over their differences while they found a middle ground. He does not envy Ukyo when they actually get round to reviving people who actually know him pre-petrification.

Thankfully, Ukyo doesn’t come at him with a knife again, or asks him to make a gun, and instead mentions bringing back something else he used to be quite skilled at. Teaching.

“ A school?” Senku had repeated, when the archer brought it up.

“ Just basic things to start with,” Ukyo explains. “Basic reading and writing, elementary mathematics, things that will become essential when technology starts picking up speed.”

Senku nods in understanding. It is something he’d been thinking about. “I’m not sure how many villagers would take you up on it, but if we could at least get the kids interested, it would be a great step forward.”

“ I’m pretty sure we can get some of the older villagers interested as well,” Ukyo says. “Ruri and Kinro come to mind.”

“ Do you really think you can handle it?” Senku asks. “It’s not like you’ll be able to shoot your students.”

It’s quick, but Senku sees the sharp smirk twitch over Ukyo’s face before he hides it.

“ Provided none of my students need to take over a crime family, I’m sure I can cope. Teaching was one of the few non-violent skills I excelled at.”

“ Non-violent?” Senku repeats with a grin, because he heard  _ rumours _ from Sawada and his entourage on more than one occasion when he couldn’t avoid Namimori.

Ukyo shrugs. “Still, you can’t deny the efficiency of my methods. And who else are you going to get?”

* * *

In the end, Senku leaves Ukyo to his own devices, and he opens up his ‘school’ with roaring success. And as far as Senku can tell, Ukyo really is keeping to the ‘non-violent’ assurance, so he’s happy to leave him to it – because with the ship coming along and so many other developments in the works or completed, he can finally take a moment to experiment with the flame stones.

When he pours the contents of the bowls onto the table, he has Chrome and Gen at his side. Chrome has been giddy to learn more about them ever since he saw the glow the first time – and Gen is both curious, and very interested in an experiment that requires minimal manual labour.

“ So what exactly are these?” he asks, picking up the brightly coloured stones. “They’re quite beautiful, but I doubt you’re going into jewellery making.”

Oh, he might be surprised there.

“ These rocks happen to have a unique ability,” Senku explains, picking up one of the green stones and handing it over to Chrome. “Why don’t you show our resident magician our own trick?”

Gen’s yelp when Chrome makes the stone glow again is hilarious. So is Chrome’s when Gen yanks the rock out of his hand, turning it between his fingers before discarding it to pull in Chrome’s hand and scanning it with sharp eyes.

“ How did you do that?” he asks. “Rocks don’t just glow on contact with human skin. Some kind of powder that reacts on the hand? Hidden wires?”

“ Nope,” Senku says. “That was all the rocks, and a bit of mental intent from the user.”

That has Gen looking up, a suspicious look on his face.

“ That sounds an awful lot like pseudoscience,” he says. “I did not expect to hear that from you.”

Senku laughs, picking up another green stone and concentrating. Unfortunately, it remains as dim as it had the first time, and he thuds it back on the table with more force than necessary.

“ It’s a highly under studied material,” he explains, once he’s bitten back most of the frustration. “The fact that Chrome found so many of them in the area is pretty impressive. Not everyone can cause that glow-”

He stops, and scans the table, before grabbing an indigo stone and tossing it to the mentalist, who catches it easily.

“ It’s super easy!” Chrome insists. “You just clutch it and think about your dreams. I’m calling them ‘Super Glowing Power Stones.’”

Gen raises an eyebrow, and his eyes glance back to Senku, who shrugs.

“ The light is referred to as ‘flames,’ because the reaction looks similar to fire. Since they come in the colour of the rainbow, each one is named after a weather attribute. Sky, Storm, Rain, Sun, Lightning, Mist, Cloud. The one you have in your hand is Mist. Just grab it and concentrate on what it is you want most. No guarantee it’ll work, but worth a try.”

The actual  _ consequences _ of having said flames is something he’ll keep to himself for now. The first task is just figuring out who is and isn’t active.

Gen’s eyes flit back to the stone, which he holds up between his finger and thumb – most likely trying to hide or spot any tricks and tells that have been placed to fool him. His face barely shifts, with his eyes narrowing just the slightest inch.

Regardless of his own feelings, Senku can’t help the grin when the stone shines with the traditional misty dark blue. Gen’s eyebrows instantly shoot up, bringing the stone closer and looking more befuddled than Senku has seen him in some time.

“ Fascinating,” Gen mutters. “If this is a trick, kudos dear Senku, because I  _ cannot _ figure it out.”

“ Would I ever try to trick or lie when it came to science?” Senku counters, and Gen ‘hmms’ before pulling his hand back, the light fading from the stone. When he places it down on the table, he quickly grabs up another – a red one, and clearly tries to repeat the effect.

“ So, the colour has a bearing on whether it works?” Gen asks after a few seconds, dropping the stone down when it stays inert, and then picks up the discarded green stone, frowning when it also doesn’t activate. “How did you know Chrome could activate this one, and me the ‘Mist?’”

“ To be honest, intuition,” Senku admits, and Gen grins.

“ Please don’t tell me they’re personality based,” he says. “I might have a mental breakdown if you go into teen magazine psychology.”

Oh Senku suspects the mentalist is going to have several breakdowns when he really gets going with flame technology, but probably best to start small.

“ Would that be so strange?” Chrome argues, ignorant of conversation not happening between them. “I mean, when I activated the green stone-”

“Lightning,” Senku corrects.

“Lightning stone, it just felt right,” Chrome finishes. “Maybe they’re just drawn to certain people?”

Gen smug grin falters slightly, and Senku’s own sharpens.

““ Not exactly...but maybe a bit,” he says. “Bet you felt something similar, right mentalist?”

He doesn’t think he’s ever seen the other teen look so reluctant to talk.

“ It felt like it belonged to me,” he admits after a few moments. “I didn’t want to give it up. What are those rocks? I’ve never seen anything like it, and my career saw me enter more than one spiritual shop. Stones that react to personality traits would be a gold mine if they were common knowledge.”

“ Like I said, grossly under studied,” Senku repeats, and starts picking up the stones to place into a singular bowl. “But I think I might take these around, see who I can get to make them work. Can’t really experiment until I know my pool of guinea pigs.”

* * *

The testing goes well. Ridiculously well – to the point that Senku is having  _ suspicions _ .

Every single revived he tests can activate one of the stones. Every. Single. One. It takes a few tries and false starts, but everyone from Nikki to Yo to even freaking  _ Mirai _ is flame active. That should be ten billion percent impossible, but the facts aren’t lying.

The villagers on the other, are much closer to the ratio he’d expected. Less than 15% of the population, which is high – but given the low birth rates and small gene pool, understandable.

When he returns to the lab, he dumps the bowl on the table, and sits down in a nearby chair, running a hand through his hair as he tries to relax. He’d lost Chrome in the village to show off some of the rocks to the few Ishigami villagers that could activate them, while Gen had been drafted by Kaseki for something, leaving him alone with his thoughts, and dark conclusions.

And most of them have him concluding with a question. How the hell can he  **not** use them?

“ So it appears I may need to become a flame tutor sooner than expected?”

He rolls his eyes and looks up as Ukyo strolls in, glancing over Senku with a casual glance. “You’ve heard?”

“ It’s difficult not to. Just about everyone you tested talked about the fancy new ‘Senku stones.’ It appears all us modern timers can use them.”

Ukyo then picks up a yellow stone, and let’s his lips quirk upwards as it starts to glimmer. Senku merely grits his teeth and tries to convince himself he’s not jealous, while Ukyo drops it back into the basket.

“ I wonder,” Ukyo says. “The sheer number of the revived that can use these stones is suspicious. Back home, less than 2% of the population were capable.”

Senku nods, quickly getting to his feet. “Yeah, I noticed. Granted, this world is not ours, so it’s not impossible that it’s natural, but the Mafia had enough trouble hiding flames at the low population. Plus, Ishigami Village has a much lower success rate.”

“ Agreed. People would have noticed if it was this common,” Ukyo says, picking up one of the Sky stones. “So the next question – is the flame activation a side effect of the petrification, or the primary intention?”

That is the question, isn’t it. The petrification has already been proven to a useful healing agent, so releasing whatever keeps people from using flames is a valid theory. Though from the look in Ukyo’s eyes…

“ You have a hypothesis,” Senku says, staring over at the archer. Ukyo just keeps staring at the stone in his hand.

“ Well, Skies can harmonise two different matters,” Ukyo reminds him. “And it’s been proven that converting something to stone is often the easiest option.”

Senku stills, realising what Ukyo is suggesting. “The ray could have utilised Sky flames to get the effect.”

Ukyo shrugs, dropping the stone back down. “It’s just a theory. But I can’t wrap my brain around any technology that could affect the entire world without involving flames somehow.”

True. Before the petrification, Senku would have thought they were a good few decades away from this kind of breakthrough.

“ However, if flame technology was used, then we need to figure out the level it had advanced beforehand,” Senku says. “Neither of us had links to the underworld in this life, and Ryuusui is shockingly honourable for a capitalist with more money than sense.”

Ukyo nods in commiseration. “Agreed – of everyone awake, he would have been our best bet. An honest businessman, what  _ was  _ the world coming to?”

Senku laughs despite himself, and intends on answering – only to hear quick footsteps rushing towards the lab. Seconds later, as if summoned by their conversation, Ryuusui appears at the entrance.

“ Senku! Did you dare leave me out of some new discovery?” he pouts, looking both put out and excited at once. “Where are these unique stones?”

Ukyo glances over, a question in his eyes. Senku just averts his gaze – in his defence, he hadn’t intended to skip out Ryuusui when he’d been testing most of the Kingdom, but the ship building means their future Captain is often one of the busiest members, and he didn’t want to interrupt him.

He tries to explain as much, but Ryuusui is already waving it off, already eyeing up the bowl with glee.

“ Ah, ah, save your excuses Senku,” he insists. “I may not have been first, but I’ll be damned if I’ll be the last. How do they work?”

He’s already grabbed a fist of them, and Senku quickly moves over and makes him drop them, quickly selecting one of the orange Sky stones and placing it in his palm. Ukyo makes a curious noise at his choice, but otherwise doesn’t react.

“ Okay rich boy, basically just concentrate on your desires,” Senku tells him. “Although given that it’s you, might want to narrow it down to something specific.”

Ryuusui laughs, grinning bright and wide, and holds the stone tight. A few seconds later however, he frowns, shaking his fist a few times and pouting.

“ Senku, this one’s a dud,” he whines. “Give me another.”

Senku’s own smile fades.

“ Really? Maybe you need to concentrate on something else.”

“ Or maybe he needs another stone,” Ukyo offers, and Ryuusui takes his advice, quickly dropping his current choice to dig through the bowl. His fingers move through the variety, before stilling on one specific.

“ Ooh...I want this one.”

He quickly lifts up his prize, the largest of the cloud stones, and Senku raises his eyebrows.

“ Yeah, I’m not sure that’s a good choice-”

“ Of course it is, it’s perfect for me!” Ryuusui announces. “Purple is the colour of power and wealth.”

“ That’s not exa-”

The words die on Senku’s lips, as the stone in Ryuusui’s hands lights up with a purple flame.

“ Hah hah! Don’t underestimate my intuition Senku!” Ryuusui says. “My choices are always perfect.”

“ ...Huh,” Ukyo manages to offer, and Senku starts trying to pull his jaw up from the floor.

* * *

Ukyo quickly vanishes after that, while Ryuusui tries to buy the stone for a truly inordinate amount of dragos so that he can put it on a necklace, so Senku sends him off to chase Chrome for permission, while he processes this new information.

Cloud? How is Ryuusui a  _ Cloud _ ?

Except...wait. He frowns and brings his hand to his face in thought. Cloud’s are territorial...what if a Cloud was allowed to believe that the entire world was theirs to own? Given the power and resources to have both freedom and control on a global scale?

If you think with that mindset, then Nanami-The-World-Will-Belong-To-Me-Ryuusui, who loves everyone and everything, possessing a purple flame? It makes perfect sense.

He laughs softly to himself. To think he’d miss such an obvious twist.

* * *

That night, he can’t quite sleep, and finds himself sitting in his observatory, looking through the telescope but not really registering what he sees. As such, he barely registers when Taiju wanders in, looking confused.

“ What’s wrong Senku?” he asks, and Senku turns his head.

“ What makes you think anything’s wrong?” he asks.

“ Well, when you were making people try to make those stones glow, you looked kind of irritated,” Taiju explains. “Sometimes you looked satisfied, but mostly irritated.”

Senku huffs in amusement, and shifts to make room on the floor for his friend. “For such dumb idiot, you can be surprisingly insightful sometimes.”

Taiju just laughs good naturedly and sits on the floor next to him.

“ Are you annoyed you couldn’t get the stone you wanted to glow?” he asks, and Senku sighs.

“ Of course not.”  _ Yes. “ _ I’m more worried about how nobody got the orange one to activate.”

“ Really?” Taiju asks. “Nobody could get that one to work? That’s weird.”

“ Not really,” Senku replies. “Skies are rare. I had hopes for Ryuusui, but it didn’t pan out.”

“ Well, it sucks, but I’m sure you can find one when we start reviving more people,” Taiju says, trying to cheer him up.

“ Yeah, but if I want to pursue more flame theory, I need to find at least one Sky,” he explains. “If there’s too many flame actives in one place, they’ll become overwhelming. A Sky gives people something to focus on.”

Taiju frowns, looking confused, and Senku rolls his eyes.

“ Look, people who can use these stones can use them to do certain things,” he says, knowing Taiju at least won’t question the logistics. “We call them flames, and each colour has its own ability. Orange flames are Skies. Skies are the leaders, who shelter the other flames, and keep them from getting overwhelmed. I can’t move forward with studying the stones unless there’s at least one Sky in the Kingdom of Science. It’s just too dangerous.”

Senku doesn’t know how he can make it any simpler, but Taiju still looks confused.

“ Huh, but wouldn’t that be you, Senku?”

Senku leans back, and gives a deep groan.

“ Don’t be stupid Taiju, if I had flames, I’d be a Lightning.”

His friend pouts.

“ Well, I’m sure you’d be a great ‘Lightning’ if you wanted to be. But, I mean, you brought everyone together, and everyone follows your lead. It’s not just because you’re the smartest guy around, it’s because you care about us too. If Skies are leaders who shelter everyone looking for a place, I can’t think of anyone better than you.”

Senku freezes, eyes staring straight up at the roof, and Taiju gives a nervous laugh.

“ Although, I’m sure you already tried to make the orange one light up and failed. But still, I don’t think you’d need an actual Sky when we have you Senku.”

Slowly, Senku leans back into a sitting position, staring at Taiju in genuine shock.

“ Taiju…” he offers. “On this one –  _ one _ – topic, you might actually be smarter than me.”

“ ...Huh?”

* * *

With the revelation that Taiju had inadvertently given him, Senku lets his friend coax him into the lower level to sleep next to Chrome and Gen. When Taiju has descended the ladder however, Senku quickly throws off the blanket and crawls towards the bowl of brightly coloured stones. With no light, it takes a few tries, but he soon pulls out the orange rock that Ryuusui discarded. A quick glance around, and once certain Chrome and Gen are fast asleep, channels his will into the stone.

The laugh bubbles up from his chest, when it reacts and starts glowing a soft, bright orange, building into full on hysterics.

God, he really  _ is _ an idiot. Making a conclusion without testing every variable.

Verde was a Lightning. But Ishigami Senku is not Verde. Verde tossed minions into the firing line without a second thought, while Senku does whatever it takes to get everyone out alive. Verde rejected society, Senku is dragging it back piece by piece.

Verde didn’t care about anyone.

Senku’s greatest trait is just how much he cares. What a foolish scientist he’s been, to be so fixated on his preconceived notions that he couldn’t see the answer right in front of him.

The stone feels comfortable warm in his hand, and he holds it tight as he crawls back into bed, letting sleep take over.

That morning, Ishigami Senku, the Sky of Ishigami Village, walks out into the dawn.


End file.
